A decade following the Malta bus reform : attitudes towards service quality

Abstract

Malta, an island state in the Mediterranean and an EU member since 2004, has an area of 316 km² (National Statistics Office 2017). The archipelago made up of three main islands, two of which are inhabited, has a population of around half a million and with 1,867 persons per km² is one of the densest countries in the EU (National Statistics Office 2019a). Malta is composed of six districts, these being the Northern Harbour, Southern Harbour, North, South Eastern, Western and Gozo and Comino, the latter being two separate islands. Most of the population is concentrated on the main island, Malta, with the urban area stretching from the eastern side of the island covering primarily the Northern Harbour, Southern Harbour, Western and South-Eastern districts. A car-oriented culture predominates in this small island state. Car ownership and associated car use has been increasing steadily with economic growth since the early 1990s (80 % of trips are done by car). In 2018, there were 608 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Malta, placing it sixth in rank within the EU. Luxembourg was first with 676 cars per 1,000 inhabitants (European Commission 2021). One of the main reasons for this dependence is the priority given to cars in the design of the urban environment. Priority to other modes of transport, such as the bus, is negligible. Bus priority lanes, which were included and shared with other modes of transport such as EVs and motorcycles are often used illegally also by other vehicles and cars. Enforcement is lacking, leading the bus to struggle with car traffic at the detriment of its passengers. The recent road infrastructure projects that took place all over Malta led to the majority of the bus lanes - eight in all - being reduced or removed to cater for the car.